Climate-Response Adaptive Control for Use with Natural Ventilation

A system for climate-response control has been researched, theorized, and is being implemented into the Missouri University of Science and Technology’s 2009 Solar House. The system intends to control the window functionality and monitor the temperature, relative humidity, and mean radiant temperature. The information gathered from indoor and outdoor sensors determined that a correctly functioning adaptive control system would result in a 6-8% annual energy reduction. A model has been developed using Ecotect software to analyze the thermal performance of the house. The current system utilizes an exterior weather station (Netatmo), motorized windows controlled by a microcontroller (Arduino), and a touch screen interface programmed by 4D Systems software. A network of sensors has been setup in the house that feeds into a computer, which distributes commands to the microcontroller. Through these devices, windows can be raised and lowered, utilizing what would theoretically be the cool, low humid, natural ventilation